Are Good Used Lathes Like Unicorns?

[MtnBiker]

Buy used they said. Well, whoever thought it was a good idea having the coolant tank be integral to the casting...is a DUMMY. I just finished scraping the last inch of sludge out of my lathe. About the grossest thing I've ever had to do. Stuff hadn't been touched for who knows how long and I can't imagine that tank had ever really been cleaned. 3 entire rolls of blue, now brown shop towels, two cans of brake cleaner and two gallons of science experiment to dispose of. I wore a trash bag on my arm up to my shoulder plus gloves. Would have preferred a space suit. So so horrible!

 

[Nogoingback]

Buy used they said. Well, whoever thought it was a good idea having the coolant tank be integral to the casting...is a DUMMY. I just finished scraping the last inch of sludge out of my lathe. About the grossest thing I've ever had to do. Stuff hadn't been touched for who knows how long and I can't imagine that tank had ever really been cleaned. 3 entire rolls of blue, now brown shop towels and two gallons of science experiment to dispose of. I wore a trash bag on my arm up to my shoulder plus gloves. Would have preferred a space suit. So so horrible!

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What doesn't kill you makes you stronger...

 

[MtnBiker]

American Rotary ADX-20 on the way. Found out the distributor is 15 minutes away so saving a bunch on shipping. And prices are going to go up a bunch (like everything). So it made sense to pull the trigger. We have some conduit and wire to buy.

 

[DAM 79]

That is the same set up that I have and it was the best investment I’ve made . And I ran mine in to a 3- phase panel with breakers that go to outlet and then the machines plug in so everything is on a breaker

 

[Ultradog MN]

That is the same set up that I have and it was the best investment I’ve made . And I ran mine in to a 3- phase panel with breakers that go to outlet and then the machines plug in so everything is on a breaker

I wasn't sure how to do that.
I'm running three 3 phase machines so I came out of the RPC enclosure and ran power to 3 outlets on the wall. All three machines already had fused disconnects on the back of them so I didn't think I needed another layer of protection. The RPC does have a a breaker in the main garage panel - of course.

 

[rabler]

I wasn't sure how to do that.
I'm running three 3 phase machines so I came out of the RPC enclosure and ran power to 3 outlets on the wall. All three machines already had fused disconnects on the back of them so I didn't think I needed another layer of protection. The RPC does have a a breaker in the main garage panel - of course.

I bought a siemens 3ph panel off ebay as well as two 30amp 3ph breakers and a 50amp 3ph breaker. The Siemens panel doesn't have a position for a "main" breaker, I just ran the RPC into the 50amp breaker, and an outlet off of each 30amp. I have room for one more 30amp breaker. The RPC itself is off a 100a breaker in the main single phase panel. I used SEU 2/0 aluminum from the main to the RPC. I'm not an electrician, so it's possible I missed some code compliance but I feel reasonably safe with this setup. This is a 20HP idler/RPC

 

[Dabbler]

on the topic of 'unicorns', a friend of mine just bought a Hartford Mill, 7X42, a Taiwanese BP clone. In showroom condition. for 3200CDN$

 

[MtnBiker]

Ordered some parts from Eisen seeing as their 1640G looks almost identical. The carriage width matched up so I assumed I could get wipers, ball oilers and a micrometer carriage stop (and a new band brake too).


Went from yucky (and not at all wipey) to perfectly wipey. Now I know what all the fuss is about. All the wipers for the carriage were exact except the cross-feed. Eisen beefed that part up quite a bit (and mine is no slouch). The Eisen is definitely a step up in beefy and rigidity compared to the Sun Masters (Precision Matthews) in the 16" class.


Bad color match but this works perfectly too.

So - support is pretty good (at least my hit rate so far). Feeling a little more of that Unicorn thing.

 

[MtnBiker]

Most of the crud cleaned off. What remains has a nice "patina". This is where I'll put the lathe in our fab shop tool room (or tool section). Still getting the RPC hooked up. So much to do.

Thought I'd leave the thread this way. For the first foray into lathe work the idea of getting a new machine and just jumping in was a little naive on my part. The value in already having a lathe is knowing the sizes of all the other stuff to buy. David Best's book Introduction to Indexable Tooling for the Metal Lathe: A User Guide has been super helpful as a resource to get started. If this is a first lathe it just takes time.



I think (I hope) I got lucky with this lathe. It might be a great long-term investment, it might just be an awesome machine to learn on. Either way, the size is right, even if the branding is unfortunate, and the tooling is a long-term investment. The thing about estate sales is that the machine wasn't for sale (wasn't all used up). Not a bad option if it comes up. Not buying new makes room for more/better tooling and that might just be the part I like best now that I know more.

Happy hunting.

 

[matthewsx]

Most of the crud cleaned off. What remains has a nice "patina". This is where I'll put the lathe in our fab shop tool room (or tool section). Still getting the RPC hooked up. So much to do.

Thought I'd leave the thread this way. For the first foray into lathe work the idea of getting a new machine and just jumping in was a little naive on my part. The value in already having a lathe is knowing the sizes of all the other stuff to buy. David Best's book Introduction to Indexable Tooling for the Metal Lathe: A User Guide has been super helpful as a resource to get started. If this is a first lathe it just takes time.

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I think (I hope) I got lucky with this lathe. It might be a great long-term investment, it might just be an awesome machine to learn on. Either way, the size is right, even if the branding is unfortunate, and the tooling is a long-term investment. The thing about estate sales is that the machine wasn't for sale (wasn't all used up). Not a bad option if it comes up. Not buying new makes room for more/better tooling and that might just be the part I like best now that I know more.

Happy hunting.

That my friend.... is a unicorn